Safety device



June 11, 1940. v E BLANK 2,204,338

SAFETY DEVICE Filed Oct. 5, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E i f 1% 36 68 INVENTOR HIS ATTORNEY June 11, 1940. Q B NK 2,204,338

' SAFETY DEVICE I Filed Oct. 5, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HIS ATTORNEY Patented June 11, 1940 v SAFETY DEVIGE Charles E. Blank, Painted Post, N. Y., assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, Jersey City, corporation ofv New Jersey Application O ctob en5, 1938, Serial No. 233,408 Claims, (01. 744) This invention relates to engines and more particularly to a safety device associated with the pressure lubricating system of 'an engine.

This-invention is an improved form of apparatus of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,099,556

issued toA. O. Carpenter, November 16, 1937.

One object of the invention is to-stop a steam engine automatically, and in an improved manner, when it is operating under conditions considered unsafe, more particularly when the pressure in the lubricating system drops to a value which would be too low toiefiectively lubricate the engine, either because of the low speed of operation of the engine or because of lack of lubricating oil- Another object of the invention is to improve the form of such device by eliminating friction to a large extent to make the apparatus more compact, simpler, and cheap to construct.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings and in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts,

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of

a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a transverse section along the plane 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 3 is a cross section on the plane 3-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, and

' Figure 4 is a sectional view of part of the apparatus taken on the planes indicated by the line 44 of Figure 2. Y

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Figure l, the safety device is particularly adapted to operate a steam valve, in this instance having a casing i8, housing a valve seat l2 upon which is adapted to seat a movable valve member I4" whereby communication between steam supply pipe l6 and a part I8 is adapted to be interrupted in an emergency. Valve member l4 is held off its seat by a pin 20 passing through an aperture 22 formed in an extension of valve I4,

pin 20 being carried by an arm 24 pivotally mounted on a shaft 26 passing through the casing 24 and keyed to a weighted lever 28. As indicated in Figure 1, this valve is an emergency precaution and may be used in conjunction with the usual typeof gate valve 30, details ofv which are not shown.

The weighted adaptedin an emergency torclose the valve l4 to its seat I2 'quickly, and is normally held up to lever- 28, asdescribed above is N. J., a

keep the valve open by means of a latch 32 having a notch 34 to whicha stud 36 is adapted to fit, the stud being bolted-to the lever 28'as at 38. Latch 32 is'pivoted at a pin 40 mounted on a bracket 42 formed integrallywith a trip 're- 5' lease mechanism housing 44, which'is attached by bolts 46 to the valve casing l0. Casing 44 is generally cylindrical in forrnand' has an outer wall 48 upon which is mounted centrally thereof,

a bearing pin 50 which serves to mount a' cover 52, held in place on a reduced extension '54 of the pin 50 by means of a nut 56.

The trip release mechanism includes a pivotally mounted member or pendulum 58 having a weighted end 60,which causes the pendulum 58 to' rotate when released; Suitable needles 18' be-' tween pin 50 and the'pendulum member 58 provide a frictionless bearing for the latter. At the opposite end is a-claw or hook-like projection 62 arranged to forcibly engage a pin 64 mounted at the end'of a link 66 attached at its other end to latch 32 by a pin 68. The link 66 extends through an aperture 10 in the cover 52 and is guided on the wall 48 under a strip 12 (Figs. 2 and 4) held on to the wall 48 by bolts 14 and spaced therefrom by washers 16.

The link 66 'is adapted to be retained in its disengaging position by a catch member 80 pivotally mounted on the upper bolt 14 and urged by a spring 82 attached at its other end to an car 84 integrally formed with strip I2, to engage link 66. The notchv 86 in the upper side of link 66 forms a detent to be engaged by catch member 80 when the hooked end 62 of the tripping member 58 draws link 66 inwardly of the cover 52.

Normally, the tripping member 58 is held in position so that its weighted end 68 is above the center of rotation or bearing 58 as shown in Figure 2. This is accomplished by a pin 88-slidablymounted'in an aperture 90 in wall 48 and adapted to engage the trip member 58 at an aperture 92 in that member. The pin 88 is held in this engaging position by fluid pressure operated mechanism, in thisinstance comprising a drum having two heads 94 and. 96, having a diaphragm 98 interposed between flanges I00 and H12 of'heads 94 and .96'respectively, one of the chambers formed thereby, as for instance I04,

' being supplied with fluid under pressure from a source (not shown) by a pipe lll6,'saiddiaphragm being arranged to exert pressure through a plunger I08 and a lever 0 against the end of pin 88. Diaphragm 98' is provided with a bearing plate H2 to contact plunger I08. A suitable bore H4 is provided'in head 96 to permit reciprocatory H movement of plunger 18. Lever III] is pivotally mounted as at lit on a bracket H8 formed on the rear face of wall 28 and is attached to pin 38 by a pivot I20. The lever Illl is provided with an arm I22 attached to a spring I 2 3, preferably of the coil type, tending to withdraw pin 88 and attached to an adjusting screw I26 passing through an aperture I28 in the casing 4 the tension of the spring I24 being regulated by a suitable knurled nut I30. 7

The drum consisting of heads 94 and 86 is held in position, facing wall 58, by suitable bolts I32 which pass through both of said heads and into a circular flange l3t formed integrally with the housing 44.

The trip member 58 is provided with a handle I38 by which that member is manually rotated for resetting. To provide clearance for handle I36, cover 52 is cut away at the periphery to form a slot I38. Trip member 58 is adapted to release catch 8!) and to this end is provided with an abutment face Mt adapted to engage the ear I 52 of catch Bil thereby rotating the catch to disengage the notch 85 of link 56. In this releasing position of trip 53 a painted spot Md on the face of member 58 registers with a window Mt of cover 52.

For facilitating the initial setting of the trip member 58 a plunger M8 is provided in cover 52 slidably in a bore I50 to fit into an aperture I52 in the trip member 58. Aperture I52 is an enlarged sidewise extension of aperture 92 and is arranged to fit the enlarged head I54 of plunger I48. To limit the motion of plunger M8 and to accommodate head lfi l, a counterbore I56 is provided in a boss I58 of cover 52.

In order to insure proper positioning of the cover 52 with respect to the end wall 43, a notch I65] is provided in the wall to engage a tooth I62 in the cover.

To set the mechanism initially, the handle I36 is rotated counter-clockwise as far as it will go. This releases the catch by pressure of the abutment It!) against the ear M2, thus extending spring 82. By its own weight the latch 32 drops outwardly against weighted lever 28, which is then raised manually until the pin 35 is engaged by the notch 3d of latch 52. It is impossible to raise the weighted lever 28 too high as this is prevented by the over-extending hook I64 of latch 32. By means of the handle ltli the trip member 58 is held in that position and, by the pressure of the operators thumb, plunger M8 is pressed inwardly so that the head I54 of the plunger engages aperture I52 of the trip member. Handle I365 may then be released as the trip member 58 is thus held in position and this is indicated by observation of the colored spot M4 through the window ME.

Inasmuch as the valve I l permits passage of steam to the engine (not shown), presumably the engine can be started by opening valve 39 and oil pressure for lubricating the engine will develop, as described more fully in the patent above referred to. Fluid pressure provided by the lubricating oil and transmitted through pipe M6 to chamber Mid and acting against diaphragm 98 will press against plunger Hi8, which in turn will press against lever III) to overcome the ten,

sion of spring I2 4. As sufiicient lubricating oil pressure is developed, this pressure will cause lever ll 0 to push pin 88 into aperture I52 thereby disengaging plunger I48 and trip member 58 and permit slight rotation of that member due to gravity, whereupon plunger 88 will engage aperture 92 of the trip member to prevent further rotation, as indicated in Figure 2. In this position the colored spot I44 is no longer visible through window I 46, which will indicate to the operator that the engine is functioning normally and that the proper lubricating oil pressure is being developed.

Assuming now that the lubricating oil pressure drops so that the pressure against aperture 98 is insufiicient to overcome the tension in spring I24, this permits plunger I08 to be retracted and, in addition, the plunger 88 will be withdrawn from aperture 92. Upon such release the weight of the pendulum-like trip member 58 causes that member to drop, bringing the hooked end 62 into engagement with pin 64 of link 56. The great force accompanying this engagement pulls latch 32' out of engagement with pin 36 which instantly causes lever 28 to drop and to close valve I' l. This will, of course, shut down the engine and the operator may restart it by following the procedure above described.

Thus by the above construction are accomplished, among others, the objects hereinbefore referred to.

Many modifications of the above described embodiment, which do not depart from the spirit of the invention, will occur to those skilled in the art. Such changes are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a latch mechanism adapted to be held inoperative by a pressure actuated device for a valve adapted to be closed by a gravity actuated lever comprising a latch to hold said lever in unactuated position, a pivotally mounted member weighted at one end and held against gravity by said device, a catch on said pivotally mounted member, and a member carried by said latch and cooperating with said catch to actuate the latch.

2. In a latch mechanism adapted to be held inoperative by a pressure actuated device for a valve adapted to be closed by a gravity actuated lever comprising a latch to hold said lever in unactuated position, a support, a member pivotally mounted on said support and adapted to be held by said pressure actuated device with its weighted end uppermost, a catch on said member, and a link attached to said latch and guided on said support adapted to be engaged by said catch for actuating the latch.

3. In a latch mechanism adapted to be held inoperative by a pressure actuated device for a valve adapted to be closed by a gravity actuated lever comprising a latch to hold said lever in unactuated position, a support, a member pivotally mounted on said support and adapted to beheld by said pressure actuated device with its weighted end uppermost, a catch on said member, a link attached to said latch and guided on said support, and adapted to be actuated by said catch to release the latch, and means to engage said link to hold said latch in releasing position.

l. In a latch mechanism adapted to be held inoperative by a pressure actuated device for a valve adapted to be closed by a gravity actuated lever comprising a latch to hold said lever in unactuated position, a support, a member pivotally mounted on said support and adapted to be held by said pressure actuated device with its weighted end uppermost, a catch on said member, a link attached to said latch and guided on said support, and adapted to be actuated by said catch to release the latch, spring pressed means to hold said link in its latch releasing position,

all

said member being adapted to release said spring pressed means.

5. In a latch mechanism adapted to be held inoperative by a pressure actuated device for a valve adapted to be closed by a gravity actuated lever comprising a support, a latch pivotally mounted on said sup-port to holds aid lever in unactuated position, a link guided by said support and adapted to withdraw said latch from said lever, ,a spring pressed detent engageable with said link to hold said latch in releasing position, a member pivotally mounted on said support and provided with a catch to engage said link/said member being arranged to disengage said detent, an aperture in said member engaged by the pressure actuated device to hold the weighted end of said member uppermost, and a-manually operable plunger also engaging pressure actuating plunger.

CHARLES E. BLANK. 

